summer capsule wardrobe

It’s been about a year and a half since I’ve done an official capsule wardrobe and blogged about it. Starting with fall of 2015, I did a few rounds (see all my capsule wardrobe blog posts here, including how to do your own) and I learned so much from doing it that I thought I’d give it another go and see if I could apply any of the knowledge I acquired.

As a quick refresher, a capsule wardrobe is a limited number of pieces that can be easily mixed and matched and that you wear for a determined length of time. Capsule wardrobes have been around since the 70's, but have experienced a resurgence in recent years. I usually go by the rules outlined by Courtney Carver of Project 333 (33 items for 3 months).

I haven’t ever done a summer capsule, which seems like a unique challenge. It’ll be easier than a cold weather round because you need fewer overall pieces of clothing. It’ll be harder because since there’s not much layering, you have fewer combinations you can make.

This is what I've been wearing since the beginning of June and will continue to wear until the end of August. As always, you need to be realistic about the ways you’ll be spending your time in this season. I know that in this three month period, I’ll be momming or working from home approximately 75% of the time, seeing clients 24% of the time, and dressing up 1% ;) Since I can assume that it'll be blazing hot in St. Louis for most of that time, most of my clothes need to be comfy, kid-proof, and cool. I marked the mom-appropriate items in the list with an *, and it works out to about 81% of my capsule. No surprise, most of my items are black, white, or denim, with a few patterns and a bit of rust and blue.

There are lots of different ways you can adapt the capsule wardrobe “rules” to fit your needs. For this round, I’m including clothing items and shoes, but not accessories, and I've ended up with 32 items. If I came across a great jumpsuit or go-anywhere dress, I still have some room to add it, so I'm not adhering to the "no shopping during the capsule" rule.

The best part for me about doing a capsule wardrobe is looking in my closet and just seeing these few options. Hardly any decision making necessary! Would you do it?

If the thought of having fewer clothes sounds dreamy to you, but you've had trouble paring down, sign up for notifications about the new course I'm working on called making space. The course is 4 weeks long and launches in September. It's for anyone who’s ever opened their closet and thought “I have a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear” or who’s tried cleaning out their closet on their own and wasn’t able to make decisions about what to keep and what to get rid of. The four modules are: 1) Defining your Style, 2) How to Edit, 3) Overcoming Stumbling Blocks, and 4) Continuing the Momentum Mindfully. I'll walk you through all the hard parts and you'll end up with a closet full of only things you love and wear. Sign up below to get notified when the course goes on sale.

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